Chapter Ninety: The Collapse of the Five Lights

His dantian shook, and the sun and moon lost their light.

Under the lash of the Nine Heavens Primeval Astral Wind, the edges of the sealed domain were ground smooth.

If Xu Zhong had not been hiding within the skin that embodied the Thunder Ancestor’s consciousness, he would surely have already been annihilated in body and soul by the Nine Heavens Primeval Astral Wind.

The azure dragon outside was unfurling the star-river in a wild dance. Behind it rolled an abundance of mist, like a jade ribbon fluttering beyond the nine heavens, or like a heavenly river plunging from the sky.

This vapor shifted through countless transformations, and in an instant manifested innumerable magical treasures: water swords, water blades, water spears, water axes, water halberds, and more.

Amid those treasures there was even a trace of metal-enshrouding auric energy.

That heavenly river spread outward without end, like a giant whale drawing up water, coiling like a dragon in endless loops; at its source lay its dragon pearl.

In that instant, an exceptionally savage killing intent filled the entire sealed domain.

Yet Wei Yan showed not the slightest fear. On his immense dharma form, a single strand of hair fell away. It trembled in the wind, and in an instant countless golden threads shot forth from it. Moments later they spread across the entire dantian seal, weaving in a heartbeat into a colossal golden net that covered the whole sealed domain.

That surging heavenly river slammed into the golden net, only to be shattered and thrown into chaos in the blink of an eye.

Then the Nine Heavens Primeval Astral Wind arose like a storm sweeping away the remnants of the day, washing over the azure dragon’s fleshly body.

Soon the azure dragon’s body was withered by the astral wind. Scales of dragon-flesh broke off and fell away; blood scattered like a shower of blossoms, a riot of petals descending from heaven.

The azure dragon roared in fury and shrank its form. Its immense body now seemed as slight as a grain of mustard seed, drifting and swaying in the astral wind, yet still unable to evade its grasp.

At that moment, a furious shout suddenly rang out from the sky.

Then thunderclouds surged across the heavens, and thread after thread of thunder dragons sprang and lashed within the clouds. Joined by the mournful whistle of the wind, endless lightning began to churn through the sealed domain of the dantian in an instant.

The spirit of the great cauldron, the Yellow Dragon, burst out from the round vessel. Opening its mouth, it spat forth lightning enough to illuminate half the celestial palace. The boundless crackle of lightning stirred the surging power within the dantian until even that too seemed to become lightning; at that moment, it was as though they stood in a sea of thunder.

And after wind and thunder, the first to charge out was Xuan Jiuyuan.

Though wounded, and wounded at the very source of her being, it did not stop her from leading the charge.

The blade in her hand tore through the thunderclouds and ripped apart the Nine Heavens Primeval Astral Wind. Then she opened her mouth and spat out a sound as vast as a rainbow.

This exhalation grew with the wind; in the blink of an eye it covered the other half of the sealed domain’s heavenly vault, bearing an extremely dense deathly aura, spinning rapidly as it lunged to strike Wei Yan.

"Vast-Pattern Golden Core!" Wei Yan said with a smile. Layers upon layers of sacred, precious radiance rippled over his body like drifting smoke and clouds.

Then a streak of colored cloud fell from the heavens and descended into his body.

In an instant, his body seemed to be undergoing a process of refining the false into the true, gradually acquiring life.

Blood vessels began to spread across his illusory fleshly body and spiritual form, while strands of muscle fibers wound around them and twisted together, becoming sinews and flesh.

In contrast, the entire palace complex was collapsing.

Xu Zhong had no heart for watching the struggle. His gaze was utterly seized by the scenes unfolding overhead.

The first to fall was the Water Radiance Secret Vault nearest the dantian.

From the layered palaces on the outside of this secret vault came a thunderous roar. The gale sweeping outward crushed every seal of spellcraft into dust, transforming them into points of faint light like fireflies, which streamed from the Water Radiance Secret Vault toward the dantian.

At first those lights were only the size of a fingernail, but in the blink of an eye they became like meteors, tearing through the boundary outside the sealed dantian.

The meteor came on with fierce momentum. With one headlong impact, the entire dantian trembled involuntarily, and then the meteor turned into a silver rainbow, flying into Wei Yan’s Yin Aspect Secret Vault and transforming once more into a seal of spellcraft.

The clanging and ringing went on without end.

The Samadhi True Fire surging out from within Wei Yan burned away the Yin aspect, while an endless tide of blood energy poured into the Water Radiance Secret Vault.

At this moment that secret vault seemed to have become a great furnace, extracting the essence from flesh and vital qi, then pouring that essence back into the Water Radiance Secret Vault, filling it with living vitality.

He was trying to absorb the power of his entire body and flesh, refining yin into yang and thereby uniting yin and yang to attain that nameless realm of the One That Escapes.

Xu Zhong could see it, and so could Yellow Dragon, Azure Dragon, Xuan Jiuyuan, and Feng Xun.

"Your turtle shell, returned to you!" Feng Xun tossed the shell away.

Though it was a priceless treasure, in his hands it could not display its fullest worth.

In any case, he had already copied the pattern of the Luo diagram upon the shell once more, and had gained insight into its various transformations as well.

The azure dragon glared fiercely at Feng Xun and Xuan Jiuyuan. "Were it not for the great enemy before us, I would surely fight you both again."

"Welcome at any time," Xuan Jiuyuan laughed heartily.

Thus the three of them cast aside old grudges and joined forces to kill toward Wei Yan.

Wei Yan, while counterattacking, accelerated the process of refining yin into yang within his body.

That rainbow descending from the sky was not an isolated case, but something occurring in every direction.

Almost anywhere one looked up, one could see such rainbows falling from beyond the heavens.

The entire Water Radiance Secret Vault was tilting downward, and the numerous qi refiners within it, carried by the Vast-Pattern Golden Core, were uncontrollably drawn down, flying toward the sealed domain.

Outside the sealed domain there existed a barrier. When their fleshly bodies slammed headlong into it, one heard only a soft sound, and their bodies became a puddle of rotten mud, while only boundless blood and vitality dissipated into the air.

That endless blood energy was drawn toward Wei Yan, and like a blood-red radiance settling upon him, it made his whole person appear exceptionally sinister and terrifying.

"You have learned my spells, and as the price I take your lives as sacrifice, to add a stalk of nirvanic firewood to my resurrection."

Indeed, upon the surface of his fleshly body, true nirvanic fire began to appear, but this fire was very weak, able to illumine only a small portion of the Water Radiance Secret Vault.

Just as Yellow Dragon had said earlier, for him to rise from death back to life, he needed a continuous stream of fleshly essence to shape a body of flesh and blood; he needed a vast amount of indestructible spiritual light to anchor his soul and bind it to his body.

"Not enough, not enough, far from enough."

After a savage strike that sent Xuan Jiuyuan and the others flying, he cast an even more covetous gaze upward toward the secret vaults.

"Too slow, too slow. Come together, all of you!"

He roared, burning his own indestructible spiritual light. He intoned a true word, and his voice grew louder and louder, converging into one force that resounded throughout the entire palace.

"Come!"

The moment he spoke, all other sounds were utterly suppressed, as though the world itself permitted only that single voice to exist.

In an instant, the palace trembled faintly.

Indestructible spiritual light flew out from above Wei Yan’s head. After piercing through the sealed dantian domain, it suddenly split into three.

One strand went upward, passing through the acupoints of Hidden Capital, Valley Pass, Dark Gate, and Step Corridor, then straight to God Seal, entering the human body’s Metal Radiance Secret Vault through that acupoint.

At that moment, the left and right grinding discs of the Metal Radiance Secret Vault were wrapped by the indestructible spiritual light and then dragged downward.

While that strand dragged the Metal Radiance Secret Vault, two more strands split off toward the Fire Radiance Secret Vault and the Earth Radiance Secret Vault.

Soon after, the Fire Radiance Secret Vault and the Earth Radiance Secret Vault were likewise entwined and dragged down toward the sealed dantian.

Meanwhile, the first two strands of indestructible spiritual light, like coiled dragons, swallowed the Water Radiance Secret Vault and the Wood Radiance Secret Vault whole before fleeing downward.

The qi refiners within the original secret vault were thrown into utter panic by the sudden turn of events.

All those palaces were collapsing, and in turn they smashed the fleshly bodies within them into collapse as well. Billowing clouds of blood mist filled the air, terrifying the slightly stronger qi refiners to the point of trembling with alarm.

So they leapt outward, entering the cloud cascade that pierced through the secret vaults. But after only a moment, they were washed through by the torrent and died even faster, their souls refined away as indestructible spiritual light was extracted from them.

Even the Buddhist monk Konghui and Yuan Yi, who had been in a standoff, were startled.

"Not good. Wei Yan has found his body and is summoning the secret vaults," Yuan Yi said, his expression changing. "Little monk, do you want to live?"

Monk Konghui put away the crescent monk staff and alms bowl. He had already cultivated the stage of Riding on Things, and was not far from External Scenery; naturally, he could judge from his present surroundings whether he could escape by his own strength.

If he could, he would not mind slaying demons here. If not, then he would have no choice but to join hands with the devil.

"You have a way?" Konghui asked warily, eyeing Yuan Yi.

"Naturally." Yuan Yi looked around, then reached out and tapped the palace.

In an instant, that palace actually flew out from the Fire Radiance Secret Vault, becoming a divine vessel independent from the rest, voyaging through the torrential flood of power, and even amidst the churning indestructible spiritual light it could travel as steadily as on flat ground.

"My power is insufficient. Lend me a bit of yours, and we can drive this palace downstream. As for whether we live or die, that depends on the mercy of my original self."

Konghui then split off a portion of his power and lent it to Yuan Yi.

In an instant, the divine vessel reached its maximum speed and surged forward, its velocity actually three parts faster than the raging current of the cloud waterfall.

"Konghui?" Not far downstream, they saw several qi refiners in a palace waving toward the monk Konghui.

Yuan Yi frowned, already preparing to turn the vessel, and casually asked, "Your friends?"

"No!" Konghui recognized those qi refiners, but he had no intention of saving them.

Yuan Yi froze. "Aren't you a monk? Shouldn't monks be compassionate?"

Monk Konghui looked displeased. "They all call me the demon monk Konghui, which shows that in their eyes I am not a monk at all, but a monster! Besides, my master said that the Buddha saves only those with affinity. Clearly, they are not those with affinity toward me."

Yuan Yi did not know what to say. Just after they set off, they heard a burst of angry cursing. A moment later the cursing vanished, and those few qi refiners had already been blasted to pieces, turning into a mass of billowing blood mist.

They traveled downstream for not long before hearing someone shout, "Konghui!"

Yuan Yi made no move to intervene. Just as he was about to steer the divine vessel, he heard Monk Konghui say, "Master."

Yuan Yi stopped and saw a six-thousand-zhang dharma form standing in the void. Vast clouds and torrents continually washed over him, yet he remained motionless, as immovable as a divine mountain.

Opposite him stood a middle-aged Daoist. Nine tails stretched out behind him, each one a thousand zhang long, lashing the cloud cascade and severing it into segment after segment.

"No more fighting. My disciple has come to pick me up." Thus the great monk withdrew his dharma form and returned to his ordinary appearance, though the Bodhi tree behind him still remained on guard against Bo Yi.

Bo Yi smiled faintly and recognized Yuan Yi. "Perfect. He is also an acquaintance of mine!"

Thus the divine vessel continued downward.

Soon after, they had already reached the edge of the sealed domain.

There they saw an incomparably massive dharma form standing within the sealed domain, while behind his head hovered six incomplete luminous halo heavens slowly revolving. Within those heavens, the rhythms of the Dao washed and swept, and the Dao inscriptions drifted like ribbons in the air, elegant and alive.

Those incomplete halo heavens were now being repaired, bit by bit.

"Wei Yan!" Bo Yi recognized him and muttered, "This is trouble."

And Wei Yan, within the sealed domain, sensed something and looked outward.

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Chapter Ninety: The Collapse of the Five Radiances. Free to read.